Meanwhile, the homeless residents of Shibuya's Miyashita Park (now known as "Miyashita NIKE Park") are getting the boot as the local government uses Nike money to transform the public space into a private commercial sports facility. "Our Park," a short documentary directed by Emil Langballe, looks at the issues from the perspective of the homeless. [Via: Hypebeast]

In addition to stopping in for a snack at a maid cafe, the robot reportedly went shopping and paid a visit to Asimo at the Akihabara Daibiru Building. Tsutenkaku Robo, which weighs 30 kilograms (66 lbs) and stands 170 centimeters (5 ft 7 in) tall -- 1/60 the size of the actual Tsutenkaku Tower -- has been traveling the country to promote tourism to its hometown of Osaka ever since it was unveiled there last month.

A monster designed by H.R. Giger starred in a 1985 Japanese commercial for the Zone home entertainment system by Pioneer. The biomechanical beast -- which was also featured in a series of print ads that ran at the same time -- appears to be based on illustrations Giger made for underground filmmaker Alejandro Jodorowsky's screen adaptation of "Dune," which never made it to production.

Their stocks are plunging and they are preparing to file for bankruptcy, but that's not stopping the struggling Japan Airlines (JAL) from offering travelers the opportunity to fly with Doraemon, the beloved cartoon robo-cat.

According to a press release on the company website, JAL will begin operating the "Doraemon Jet" -- a Boeing 777-300 decorated with large colorful images of Doraemon characters -- on domestic routes (mainly between Tokyo Haneda, Sapporo, Itami, Nagoya, Fukuoka and Okinawa) beginning in mid-February.

The anime-themed aircraft is the result of a joint effort between JAL and the creators of the Doraemon movies to promote this year's annual Doraemon film, Doraemon The Movie: Nobita's Great Battle of the Mermaid King (a.k.a. Doraemon The Legend), which will hit theaters on March 6. This year marks the 30th anniversary of the Doraemon movie franchise.

In addition to operating the Doraemon Jet, JAL will be offering Doraemon-themed tours to Okinawa from February 15 through April 30 with daily departures from Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, Fukuoka and Kitakyushu. The carrier will also provide a selection of Doraemon entertainment on domestic and international flights, as well as a Doraemon kids' corner at airports and limited-edition Doraemon goods through their in-flight catalog.

In Hakodate, the battle rages on between alien squid from the planet Ikaaru and giant robots shaped like the city's landmarks. In their latest offensive, the dastardly squid invaders have muscled their way into the trailer for "It's on Me" (Watashi Dasuwa), a new film shot on location in Hakodate.

The film, which debuts today at the Tokyo International Film Festival, is a low-key drama about a woman who returns to her hometown to spread the wealth she accumulated in Tokyo.

Although the story itself has nothing to do with aliens (and unfortunately no extraterrestrials actually appear in the film), it happens to be set in Hakodate, which is home to an unconventional tourism campaign involving giant robots that defend the city against alien cephalopods seeking revenge on a population that eats too much squid. This tourism campaign has now wrapped its tentacles around the film.